


Trust Fall

by quoll



Category: Crash Bandicoot (Video Games)
Genre: Cuddling, Established Relationship, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Time bomb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:01:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26824081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quoll/pseuds/quoll
Summary: Just a little drabble about two scientists enjoying autumn and jumping in leaves together.
Relationships: N. Tropy/N. Gin
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	Trust Fall

Autumn at Castle Cortex was something to truly be admired. The extravagant garden and topiary sculptures stood proud among the changing foliage. Bright orange and yellow slowly consumed the courtyard until it was filled with the festive swirl and crunch of vivid leaves. The earthy but sweet scent was something he appreciated. It filled him with a pang of nostalgia for a time he couldn’t quite place. Gin loved fall and everything that came with it.

In addition to its beauty, it was easier on him physically. The crisp air and cooler weather gave his systems a much needed break from working overtime in the sweltering summer heat. He giggled to himself as he jumped onto a small pile of leaves he’d haphazardly raked together. The little cyborg was supposed to be cleaning up the courtyard for an autumn party, but he couldn’t resist taking a break to play. He’d always loved jumping in piles of leaves and hiding in them.

Another series of crunches, more giggles, and soon he found himself covered in the remnants of leaves and twigs. Breathless, he flopped onto the ground into the soft red and yellow mass and breathed deeply.

He sighed out, content, and watched the clouds slowly drift by overhead. The cool ground gradually began to seep through his jacket, but he didn’t mind, he welcomed it. Gin closed his eyes and nestled into the leaves. As he lay there he could feel himself starting to get sleepy, but he couldn’t be found sleeping on the job. Playing was one thing, napping was another.

He opened his eyes again to be greeted with another set staring back at him. He started a little but the figure was familiar, and welcome. A wry smile greeted him and his lips mirrored in kind. The clouds above were nice, but the figure of his partner of two years was a more welcome sight.

“What _are_ you doing?” Nefarious chuckled quietly, raising an eyebrow. Gin knew he was probably something to behold, hair an absolute mess and decorated with yard waste. He didn’t answer- the gears of a plan began to turn in his head. Tropy turned from him and disappeared from view, book in hand. He must have come out here to read. He lay there a while longer and only decided to move when he noticed the blue sky changing to hues of orange and pink.

Gin sat up, glancing behind to see the numerous crushed leaves sticking to his back. He brushed them off and got to his feet, making his way over to Nefarious, who was now sitting on one of the stone benches. He looked up from his book and chuckled again, “I thought you’d fallen asleep. You look ridiculous. Here…”

He gently brushed some of the debris from N Gin’s hair and tossed it to the side. While Tropy preened him, he took a moment to admire the self proclaimed master of time. He loved every individual freckle and wrinkle on the man’s face. He genuinely loved everything about him, even the things he hated. He leaned forward and kissed him gently, Tropy returning the affection.

They had become more open about their relationship as time had gone on. Cortex was their main concern, but as long as it didn’t affect productivity, he seemed to care less. Of course he would make exaggerated faces of disgust anytime there was even a small display of affection, but that was just Cortex’s way of teasing them, according to N Gin.

Arms wrapped around him and pulled him close, those long fingers now picking grass and sticks off the back of his coat. Tropy just couldn’t help himself, when something was out of order he had to fix it. He was surprised no comment had been made about his messy leaf piles…

“I have an idea.” Gin said gleefully, an idea finally blooming in his mind.

“And just what would that be?”

“I’ll have to show you.” He tugged on the taller man’s hand impatiently and Nefarious obliged. He abandoned the weathered book and followed after his companion. N Gin led him to a particularly cluttered area of the courtyard and tossed him a rake.

Tropy looked down at it, the gentle smile having turned into a deep frown at the expectation to do something as tedious as manual labor, “I don’t understand.”

“I want to see how big of a pile we can make. We can jump off the tree over there and land in it.”

Tropy rolled his eyes and sighed out, “N Gin-”

“It will be glorious!” N Gin countered before he could even start. Sure he might break an arm or two if the pile of leaves didn’t cushion his fall like in the cartoons, but he would certainly have a fun time leading up to it.

He was hesitant, be he relented and began methodically raking the leaves into a mass under the tree. He knew by now that arguing with his smaller companion was futile. Gin joined him and they worked in silence. Well, mostly. There was the occasional complaint from Nefarious but all it did was earn a giggle from Gin. Nothing could dampen his mood right now.

By the time they were finished Nefarious was hunched over rubbing his lower back and Gin’s arms and lungs burned, begging for rest, but the fatigue was so well worth the mass they had accumulated. It was magnificent, at least five feet tall and twice as wide. No leaf had gone unnoticed.

“Come on! Let’s climb to the top!” Gin nudged the man. The climb would be easy for him, but N Gin would need a little help finding his balance and footing.

“Er, well. You know, I think I’ll just admire it from down here.” Tropy said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, “After all, it’s such a nice leaf pile it would be a shame to ruin it, right?”

“Nef, come on, I promise it will be fun!” He nudged him again with more force this time. The time master protested but in the end, he accepted his fate as Gin nudged him again. Nefarious felt around the tree and eventually found a small notch where he could get some solid footing. The climb, as the smaller man predicted, was not difficult. Between his elongated build and robotic arm, he was up the tree in a matter of minutes.

Now it was N Gin's turn, and it was clear he hadn't thought ahead this much. His own arms and legs were much too short to scale the tree as effortlessly as Nefarious, and his own robotic hand was still something he was getting used to. Sensing his partner's hesitation, Nefarious leaned down and extended his arm, "If you can climb up and meet me half way, I'll pull you up."

"Okay... okay let's see..." He reached out and latched onto the tree and merely stayed there. Climbing wasn't ever really something he _did_ , so this was certainly a new experience for him. Inch by inch, he scooted up the tree and clumsily found small notches for his own feet to rest in. He had trouble finding a place for his fingers, but digging into the tree with his two robotic fingers seemed satisfactory. Once he'd made it about halfway, Nefarious stretched down further, arm still outstretched.

“Give me your hand.”

“This one?”

“No, the other one.”

“Ohh... _this_ one?”

“The- N Gin you only have _two_ hands.” Nefarious sighed out in exasperation as he finally got ahold of the correct hand and pulled him up on the branch. Both of them were out of breath by the time they reached the peak of the tree. Tropy cautiously lowered himself onto the branch to set down and gripped it tightly. N Gin plopped down with little regard to his or Nefarious’ safety, but other than startling the other man, no harm done.

N Gin’s legs dangled and swung idly as he looked down. It was a lot higher than he imagined and he looked over to his companion. His eyes were wide, brows arched as he, too, drunk in the sight of the ground.

“Ready?” Gin grinned at him. He couldn’t let the man sit up here for too long, otherwise he would psych himself out.

“Uh, no thanks, I think I’ll just sit up here for a while.” Tropy glanced down at the ground below again and scooted closer to the trunk of the tree. Surely he wasn’t afraid of a little fall?

”It will be fine. Here, I’ll hold your hand and we can jump off together.” N Gin held out his robotic hand and Tropy looked at it with an apprehensive scowl. He tried to reassure him again, “I promise it will be okay. It is only a few feet.”

“It’s more than a ‘few feet’.”

“Look at how big the pile is, it will be just like jumping into a pile of pillows.”

“You know leaves aren’t really as soft and dense as you seem to think they are, right?”

N Gin huffed and took Tropy’s hand in his own, “On the count of three.”

“N Gin-”

“ _One_ …”

“Wait-”

“ _Two_ …”

He didn’t wait, he jumped and pulled Nefarious along with him. A trail of panicked expletives followed after them as Tropy frantically tried to make peace with his maker as he rushed to the ground below. Just as soon as it had began it was over and the two of them landed safely in the massive pile of leaves. An hour’s work for a few seconds of fun, it was well worth it in N Gin’s mind.

Silence followed and Tropy stared up at the sky, eyes wide and expression dazed as it slowly dawned upon him he was not going to die. As the silence continued, however, Gin worried he had pushed the boundaries too far.

“That was… _Exhilarating_!” Tropy laughed, a genuine laugh free of malice. It was so different than his usual evil snickers and chortles, this was full and rich with joy and N Gin absolutely relished in it. Hearing him laugh was more fun than jumping into the leaves could ever be.

As he settled down he sighed, “Oh that was _great_.”

Neither of them made any attempt to get up. Instead he scooted closer to Nefarious and rested his head against his chest, breathing deeply once more and closing his eyes. His companion was just as cold as the ground, but he didn’t mind this either.

The gentle rustling of the leaves combined with his partner’s ministrations made him grow sleepy once more. By now the sky had turned a deep orange and the sun sat low in the sky. He could feel the mechanical fingers brushing through his hair to remove the crushed leaves that clung with such ferocity.

Tropy turned to Gin, a few leaves resting atop his otherwise bald head, “Want to go again? Or are you tuckered out for the day?”

Gin chuckled, a tinny mechanical wheeze, as he sat up and dug around for his rake in the mess, “Let’s make it even bigger this time!”

“And climb even higher.” Tropy scanned the courtyard and pointed ahead, “There, that old willow tree, that should do. Come on.”

N Gin helped him to his feet then followed after him gladly. He couldn’t think of anything else he would rather be doing. Playing on the job had certainly paid off, and he had a feeling this was only the first of many leaf jumping adventures.


End file.
